Today we’ve arrived at the state capital of Alabama and
booked into a campground within a national historical monument called Fort
Toulouse. This fort was built in 1717 by
the French at the invitation of the local Indians. The fort was named for Count de Toulouse, a
legitimized son of King Louis XIV.
Eventually the French lost possession of the fort and all of French
Louisiana at the end of the Seven Years War (French & Indian War) in
1763. It then became part of the British
colony of Georgia but the fort remained abandoned. General Andrew Jackson arrived in 1814 and
American forces built Fort Jackson on the same ground as the French had built
Fort Toulouse so many years before.
Remains of the original fort
This is a reconstructed replica of Fort Toulouse III
(1751-1763)
Friday 14th July
Today we went in to see the historical areas of
Montgomery. First stop was the Alabama
Capitol building which was built in 1850 and replaced an earlier construction
that was burned. The Confederate States
of America was born in the Senate Chamber where delegates from Southern states
voted to establish a new nation. A
little over a century later, the 1965 Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March
led by the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr ended on the street in front of the
Capitol. In 1960 the United States
Secretary of the Interior designated the Capitol as a National Historic
Landmark
The Alabama Capitol with all the state flags
The domed roof area of the top floor
The staircase to the next level
This is a memorial to all the armed service men and women
who died between 9/11/2001 and 10/1/2014 in the fight against terrorism
This is the senate where they passed the legislation
Bell at the side of the capitol
Bell at the side of the capitol
We then went to the Department of Archives & History for
an interesting couple of hours about the first people to inhabit the area and
also some history of the states involvement in the Great War
And look we found another friend for Minnie, however this
one is very old
As you can see this was the first white house of the
confederacy
This is the little church in Montgomery that Martin Luther
King Jr used to preach in
After a nice Mexican lunch we caught up with the legendary
Hank Williams who lived and died in Montgomery
Inside the Hank Williams museum
Hank Williams gravesite, they had to replace the grass with
artificial turf as everyone was taking a piece
The last stop was the Civil Rights Memorial Center, this
would have to have been the most emotionally moving part of our day. The treatment of Afro Americans in this
country in years gone by defies belief.
The center covers the years between 1954 and April 4 1968 when Dr Martin
Luther King Jr was assassinated as he prepared to lead a demonstration in
Memphis for the Civil Rights Movement.
The center promotes tolerance of all people no matter what the colour of
their skin, what religion, what sexual orientation they are. We were so inspired we added our names to the
many before us on the wall of tolerance.
This is a must see if you ever go to Montgomery Alabama.
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